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MILAN – The result was one that Walter Mazzarri certainly could not feel good about. “I got a few decisions wrong regarding squad rotation and didn’t look at how much energy we would expend, which is crucial in the modern game. It’s a way to avoid injury. I also fielded players like Palacio, who needed minutes. When things go badly like that it all contributes to everything else going worse.

“A more experienced team that goes down to 10 men becomes compact and waits for the things to blow over. Oh well, we’ll all learn from this lesson. We don’t need to discuss it too much. We have to start again and be strong for the Europa League clash on Thursday – something we managed to do against Atalanta. We’re sorry for the fans, who are suffering as we are.”

It was also a difficult afternoon for Nemanja Vidic: “I perhaps also made a mistake with Vidic by playing him too much. I take responsibility for it. There are players that can’t take three consecutive matches in this period. Is it physical or mental? A combination of the two. It never just comes down to physical conditioning at this level. You only need to look at Ibarbo for the third goal. Two of our players were sluggish and didn’t use their bodies.

“We played the whole game with 10 men and in the second half did a bit better than we did in the first. The red card? When you lose 4-1 it’s difficult to comment, but not if there are two borderline fouls. Perhaps one of the two yellow cards could have been avoided. At any rate, we need to turn the page and move on as soon as possible.” 

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MILAN – Inter will look back ruefully at the sending-off of Yuto Nagatomo as the turning point in today’s match at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The scores were finely posed at 1-1 and Inter were arguably the side looking more likely to go on to claim all three points. There can be no doubt that playing with ten men against eleven for a large chunk of the match had an irreversible bearing on the result. Cagliari played without fear and leave Milan triumphant with a 1-4 win under their belts.

Zeman’s side were on the front foot from the off and nudged in front after just ten minutes. Sau sprang the offside trap and beat Handanovic with a powerful strike. Inter looked to hit back immediately, but Palacio’s effort from the heart of the penalty box was weak.

The equaliser came on 18 minutes. Osvaldo showed astute thinking to latch on to Palacio’s quick free-kick with the Cagliari defence sleeping. However, Inter’s fillip was short-lived as Nagatomo received his marching orders in the 27th minute after a second yellow card. The Japanese clearly held Cossu back, leaving the referee little option but to send him for an early bath.

Just two minutes later, Cagliari were in front. Dessena had an effort from the edge of the box saved by Handanovic, but the ball dropped kindly for Ekdal who stroked it home. Whilst Inter were pointing fingers, Cagliari struck the hammer blow as Ekdal powered home an Ibarbo cross to make it 1-3.

The Nerazzurri, who also lost Dodo to a knee complaint towards the end of the first half, seemed powerless to resist the onrushing Cagliari attackers. Handanovic saved well from a Cossu penalty, but one minute before the break Ekdal completed his hat-trick, taking advantage of some confusion in the Inter box after a corner.

Inter came out for the second half looking for a way back into the match. Osvaldo had a goal chalked off for offside, before Palacio forced Cragno into a good save after a D’Ambrosio cross. The Nerazzurri looked urgently for a goal, but Vidic could only head over from a free-kick. Not even the entry of Icardi – in place of Palacio – could make any difference to the scoreboard.

Cagliari made good use of their numerical advantage, ensuring that Inter simply could not find a way back into the match.

Inter 1-4 Cagliari (HT: 1-4)
Scorers: Sau 9, Osvaldo 17, Ekdal 29, 34, 45.

Inter: 1 Handanovic; 6 Andreolli, 15 Vidic, 5 Juan Jesus; 55 Nagatomo, 88 Hernanes, 18 Medel (Guarin HT), 10 Kovacic, 22 Dodò (D’Ambrosio 88); 8 Palacio (Icardi 68), 7 Osvaldo.
Subs not used: 30 Carrizo, 46 Berni, 17 Kuzmanovic, 20 Obi, 23 Ranocchia, 25 Mbaye, 28 Puscas, 44 Krhin, 90 M’Vila.
Coach: Walter Mazzarri.

Cagliari: 27 Cragno; 21 Balzano, 32 Ceppitelli, 15 Rossettini, 8 Avelar; 16 Dessena (Joa Pedro 89), 4 Crisetig, 20 Ekdal; 23 Ibarbo (Farias 68), 25 Sau (Longo 73), 7 Cossu. 
Subs not used: 28 Carboni, 3 Murru, 13 Caio Rangel, 14 Pisano, 30 Donsah, 33 Capuano. 
Coach: Zdenek Zeman.

Booked: Nagatomo 25 and 27, Sau 45, Rossettini 45, Guarin 82, Balzano 82.
Sent off: Nagatomo 27.
Added time: 3 + 3 minutes.

Referee: Luca Banti (Livorno).

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MILAN – Here are the line-ups selected by Walter Mazzarri and Zdenek Zeman for today’s Inter v Cagliari clash. Kick-off at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza is at 15:00.

Inter: 1 Handanovic; 6 Andreolli, 15 Vidic, 5 Juan Jesus; 55 Nagatomo, 88 Hernanes, 18 Medel, 10 Kovacic, 22 Dodò; 8 Palacio, 7 Osvaldo
Substitutes: 30 Carrizo, 46 Berni, 9 Icardi, 13 Guarin, 17 Kuzmanovic, 20 Obi, 23 Ranocchia, 25 Mbaye, 28 Puscas, 33 D’Ambrosio, 44 Krhin, 90 M’Vila
Coach: Walter Mazzarri

Cagliari: 27 Cragno; 21 Balzano, 32 Ceppitelli, 15 Rossettini, 8 Avelar; 16 Dessena, 4 Crisetig, 20 Ekdal; 23 Ibarbo, 25 Sau, 7 Cossu
Substitutes: 28 Carboni, 3 Murru, 9 Longo, 10 Joa Pedro, 13 Caio Rangel, 14 Pisano, 17 Farias, 30 Donsah, 33 Capuano
Coach: Zdenek Zeman

Referee: Banti
Assistants: Barbirati, Gava
Additional assistants: Tommasi, Minelli
Fourth official: Iori

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PERUGIA – Inter Primavera are showing they mean business. There were several reasons for Stefano Vecchi to smile as his side thrashed Perugia 7-0. Bonazzoli, for example, scoring a brace inside half an hour, before doubling his tally in the second half. Ventre, finding the net within minutes of coming on. Yao, rising higher than anybody else to plunder his second goal for Primavera.

Yet perhaps the most pleasing thing will have been the fact that Inter were able to go away to Perugia and completely dominate the game, serving up a master-class in physical prowess and technique. They also showed great conviction in their ideas, playing with intensity and maturity. Primavera are firing on all cylinders and have now clocked up four wins in the league.

Stefano Vecchi was without Puscas in Perugia after his call-up to the first team, but the team was more than able to cope with his absence. The lads settled in straight away, Bonazzoli recording his first effort on goal as early as the third minute. Just 60 seconds later, Inter’s No. 9 had again tested Rossin in the Perugia goal, for whom it was to be a long day.

Primavera took the lead after nine minutes and it was Bonazzoli again at the heart of the action. The Inter man sprang the offside trap perfectly to jink round Rossi and stroke the ball home. Two minutes later, Appiah made way for Ventre, who promptly made it 2-0 with virtually his first touch of the game, shifting the ball onto his right foot and unleashing an unstoppable strike from inside the area.

To their credit, Perugia did try to rally, but Radu was quickly out to the feet of Zelbi to claim the ball with ease. Vecchi demanded wave after wave of attacks from his charges, imploring them to maintain their intensity and concentration. As it happened, the match was all but over in the 28th minute when Gnoukouri played in Bonazzoli, who made no mistake with a left-footed finish.

Inter came out for the second half and immediately showed the same desire that had brought them such success in the first. It took just three minutes for them to increase their lead, Yao rising highest to score with a towering header from a corner-kick. Seconds later it was 5-0, as Ventre broke into the area to breach Rossin’s goal once again and score his second of the match.

Perugia looked to muster what little they had left in the tank, and were unlucky when Musto’s free-kick was denied by the crossbar. However, the impressive Ventre was causing them all sorts of problems, and on 77 minutes set up Bonazzoli for him to complete his hat-trick from close range.

The rampant No. 9 brought his personal tally up to four in the 83rd minute, completing the 7-0 rout of a sorry Perugia side. Another win for Primavera, who will fear no-one after such an emphatic performance.

PERUGIA 0-7 INTER

Scorers: Bonazzoli (9, 28, 77, 83), Ventre (15, 51), Yao (48).

Inter: 1 Radu; 2 Gyamfi, 5 Yao, 6 Donkor, 3 Dimarco (Rocca 26); 8 Palazzi, 4 Dabo, 10 Gnoukouri; 7 Appiah (Ventre 11), 9 Bonazzoli, 11 Baldini (Lomolino 73).

Subs not used: 12 Costa, 13 Crosato, 14 Popa, 15 Sciacca, 16 Pinton, 18 Steffé, 19 Delgado, 22 Romney.

Coach: Stefano Vecchi

Perugia: 1 Rossin; 2 Arboleda, 5 Barilaro, 6 Borgarello, 3 Proietti; 7 Masella, 4 Giambi, 8 Giannarelli (Ruci 55), 11 Musto; 9 Boscolo Zemelo (Pettinelli 46), 10 Zelbi

Subs not used: 12 Farroni, 13 Bagnetti, 14 Pauselli, 15 Bordo, 16 Lkhdar, 17 Verfaj, 18 Hyseni, 19 Mancinelli, 22 Priorelli, 23 Cherbassi, 24 Capone, 25 Lo Porto

Coach: Valeriano Recchi

Referee: Paolini di Ascoli 

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